Undersong
by Swaggiest Purple
Summary: When Gakupo moved away to university, no one ever told him that it would involve prank wars, late-nights lamenting his choice of major, and coming to terms with his own sexuality. AU KaiGaku. Incoming angst.
1. Chapter 1

_Un"der*song\, n. 1. The burden of a song; the chorus; the refrain. -Dryden._

_2. Accompanying strain; subordinate and underlying meaning;accompaniment; undertone._

_In the very [poetry] there is often an undersong of sense which nonebeside the poetic mind . . . can comprehend. -Landor._

* * *

Chapter 1:

Upon approaching the apartment building where he'd be living for the next semester or so, Gakupo was finally aware just how far away from home he was. It hadn't struck him on the five-hour train ride, which he mostly slept through except for when he groggily had to change trains. He hadn't even taken it into account when he almost got lost finding the bus that got him here, either – it was at this moment, when the bustle of people had finally gone and he was completely alone – that he realized he was on his own from here on out.

This was his first time away from home. As he walked toward the main office, he tried to shift his thoughts to something else, so he could stop himself from coming up with dozens of excuses as to why he should just turn tail and head back. He thought about the roommate he was going to be staying with, who at least seemed nice enough in his messages after Gakupo had responded to his ad – though he enjoyed a little too much use of the smile emote. From what little Gakupo knew of him, he appeared trustworthy enough, but first impressions could always be misleading. His thoughts turned darker as he entered the main office building; the man could be a serial killer or worse, and he'd never know it until the last moment when the knife flashed in front his eyes…

But before Gakupo could dwell on it any longer, a kind-looking old woman appeared behind the counter to attend to him. She looked like she could be the landlady, but Gakupo wasn't entirely sure.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"Um, I-I need a key," Gakupo muttered nervously. He had never been good in these sorts of situations. "To apartment number 319? I'm going to be his new roommate, so…"

"Oh! Of course! He's such a nice boy! Says hi to me every morning. He _did_ mention someone coming…" she rifled through one of the locked compartments under the counter until she fished out the properly labeled key that he needed. "I just need some identification, and then I can give it to you."

Gakupo reached into one of the few bags he had brought with him and took out his identity card from its secure place in his wallet. He handed it to her and watched her speedily look it over.

"Ah, perfect! Here you go," she said cheerfully, handing both the key and card over with a smile.

"Thank you very much," Gakupo replied. He turned to leave after grabbing his things, but heard her happily call out one last thing before he could get out the door.

"Have a wonderful day, ma'am!"

Gakupo smiled and nodded. "You too," he said absentmindedly. It wasn't until he got nearly halfway up the stairs to 319 that he realized what she had said.

'_Ma'am?'_ he thought exasperatedly. This wasn't the first time he had been mistaken for a female, and it most likely wasn't going to be the last. However, he couldn't find the energy or reason to be angry with the old woman at all, as it had been an honest mistake. Her eyes were probably just bad and she had been quickly glancing anyway, so she didn't spot the kanji for male on his identification card. His waist-length purple hair that was usually tied up in a long ponytail was typically confusing enough, and he was told he had a gentle-looking face. His voice almost always gave him away, but when he whispered or muttered it sometimes tended to sound too soft. Oh, well. He supposed it didn't matter.

Once Gakupo got to the right apartment number, he knocked lightly and then listened for movement. When he heard nothing, he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door with relative ease. After shutting it behind him, he decided to look around a bit, and maybe sit down to wait for his roommate to show up and give him a little tour.

He hadn't even taken two steps forward when he looked up, only to see a very naked man leaving the bathroom nearby. He saw Gakupo from the corner of his eye and stopped mid-stride, freezing directly in place.

"Heeeeeeey…" the man said slowly, turning a bit to look at him clearer.

Gakupo was frozen as well, his light blue eyes wide open in surprise. His mind raced and he backed up until his entire body went against the door.

"Sooo, you must be the new roomie. Uh, I was showering before you came – didn't think you'd come when I – uh…How about I put some clothes on and we can both start over?"

The purple-haired man nodded weakly, not trusting himself to speak whilst the other male dashed away to his room. Gakupo took a deep breath and tried to think of several reasons why he should stay. Well, the train ride back wouldn't have been fun, first of all. And he valued his education. Maybe giving this guy a second chance wasn't such a bad idea. Although Gakupo wasn't used to sudden full frontal when he was only walking around, at least it wasn't really the guy's fault if he thought he was alone, right? It wasn't as if he had been waiting for him to show up so he could flash him.

Gakupo sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter, patiently waiting for his roommate to reappear. He did so a minute later, this time fully clothed in a pair of jeans and a white shirt. Gakupo hadn't gotten a good (and not panicked) look at him earlier, but now he realized that the guy wasn't too bad-looking, and his blue hair was still dripping with water as he rubbed the towel over it quickly. He was also quite tall, and probably surpassed him with at least a couple of inches in height.

"Sorry again," he apologized a little sheepishly. "I didn't even hear you knock or come in…"

"I-It's alright, I was probably too soft," Gakupo replied, looking down at the counter as he spoke.

Wanting to lighten the mood, the man chuckled a little and said, "You looked like you had seen a ghost. Do I really look that bad naked, or…?"

Gakupo narrowed his eyes and looked up briefly at the other male, who actually seemed a bit surprised by the reaction.

"Right, sorry! I didn't mean…so, uh, I'm Kaito. Shion Kaito. You're Kamui Gakupo, right?" He stuck his hand out for him to shake, but rather than taking it, Gakupo stood up from his chair and bowed deeply.

Realizing what he was doing, Kaito rushed to bow as well but wasn't aware of the little space between them, and so while Gakupo began to raise his head, Kaito lowered his quickly and collided with him on the way down.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" Kaito exclaimed, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder. "I really should've watched where I was going…"

"It's okay," Gakupo managed to utter between gritted teeth as he massaged the new bump on his head with a couple of slender fingers. This guy was getting more and more annoying by the minute, and he showed no sign of being competent in the least at anything. Gakupo tried not to let it bother him, though. After all, he thought himself nothing if not resilient to new situations.

Kaito's face broadened suddenly at a notion he had, his teeth showing in an excited smile. "Would you like some ice cream?" he offered. "I've got loads in the freezer."

Gakupo wrinkled his nose a bit and shook his head. "I don't eat that stuff. It's fattening, disgusting, and I'm on a strict diet."

"Diet? But you look fine to me." Kaito looked him up at down – the man was like a twig, and his arms were practically swimming in his sleeves.

Gakupo sighed heavily and changed the subject. "Where is my room supposed to be? Shouldn't you have given me a tour by now?"

"Right, right, right! I'm sorry, that totally slipped my mind."

He was sure that a lot of things slipped the blue-haired man's mind, but Gakupo held his tongue as Kaito led the way out of the kitchen. Turning right from the entrance to the apartment and into a little hallway was the room that was meant for Gakupo, which wasn't too bad in the way of space. It already had a desk and bed in it, but still had room for other things. A little to the left and across the hall from his room, almost directly facing the entrance, was the door to the only bathroom in the place. To the left of that was the kitchen and dining room area, and directly next to that was a small living room area with a single TV and a sofa. Further back, near the kitchen, was the door that led to Kaito's own room. Just from taking a look through the slightly open door, Gakupo could tell it was a mess. He could see clothes strewn across the bed, and various scarves of many different colors on the floor. This was going to be a long semester.

"So, how do you like the place?" Kaito asked him once the tour was over and they had managed to wander back into the kitchen to talk.

"It's not too bad. I won't mind living here. I just need a place to stay so I can study at the university near here, anyway."

"Oh, that's right! You're going to my school, too!" Kaito seemed excited again. "It has a lot of good programs. What are you studying?"

"Feudal Japanese History," Gakupo answered. "I'm going to major in it. Probably going to become a history teacher."

"That's pretty cool," Kaito smiled, although he seemed like the kind of person who'd fall asleep during a history class out of sheer boredom.

Gakupo wasn't particularly interested in whatever this man liked to do, but he asked back out of practiced politeness, "And what are _you_ studying?"

Kaito's face instantly lit up even more at the question, although Gakupo didn't think that was possible. "Music!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna be a singer."

The purple-haired man's face instantly darkened and he stood up from the counter so quickly that it made Kaito jump up a bit in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm going to go unpack."

Kaito stood up, too. "Do you need any help?"

"No. It was a pleasure meeting you," Gakupo said, although his voice sounded like it was anything but. He walked as quickly as he could to his room, nearly slamming the door shut behind him as Kaito watched on, puzzled.

* * *

Merely a few days later, it didn't take long for both boys to become annoyed with each other. Kaito found out that Gakupo took entirely too long in the bathroom in the mornings – something about his hair taking a long time to wash, even though he was in there doing God-knows-what for quite a while after the water was turned off. Kaito had to resort to washing his short blue hair in the kitchen sink, which doubled as a bit of payback because it made the hot water run out much faster for Gakupo, as well. The only actual problem was when he had to piss.

The first time Gakupo used the shower, he had forgotten to lock the door and Kaito was able to stroll in and pull down his pants to go, although his roommate nearly shrieked once he realized he was in there with him. Kaito had told him that it was fine, that he could only see his silhouette anyway, really, but Gakupo wouldn't stop yelling at him to get out.

After doing that and then flushing by mistake (or was it?), Gakupo locked the door every time he went to use the shower, and Kaito was out of luck until he finished. He recalled banging on the door and begging politely, but being told to "pee outside if he had to go that bad." One morning he almost considered doing so, but he didn't want his neighbors to think he was crazy.

The slight glare he gave Gakupo every time the purple-haired man exited the bathroom before Kaito rushed in to use it never seemed to affect him. He'd just smile back condescendingly and saunter away, his hairbrush in one hand and personal towel in the other. That was when Kaito decided to take matters into his own hands.

It was going to be an innocent little prank. Kaito loved pranks, and he thought maybe it'd help loosen Gakupo up a bit. He bought a "blood cube" from a gag store that he sometimes visited, and got to work on the prank that Friday night so he would have time to appreciate it on a weekend (and so neither of them would be late for class – he was very considerate like that). All he had to do was detach the showerhead and dry off the inside of it, then insert the cube and put it back. The next morning, Gakupo would be in for a scary surprise.

Kaito waited patiently in his room that Saturday until he heard the door to the bathroom open, shut, and then he heard a click as Gakupo locked it. He smiled. Perfect.

The man casually left his room and strolled over near the entrance of the bathroom in order to wait for that wonderful moment when the shower turned on. About a minute later he got his wish, and in ten seconds flat an ear-shattering scream emitted from the shower. It was better than Kaito had expected, but damn, Gakupo sure had a set of lungs on him.

As he had hoped, Gakupo burst out of the bathroom itself like a bat out of Hell. He was covered in red liquid, and some of it was even dripping from his long locks of purple hair. The poor guy looked frightened beyond belief, but once he locked eyes with Kaito – who burst out laughing immediately – he quickly realized that it had been his doing.

"Y-You…how?" Gakupo had never actually been pranked before, so he didn't know what to say.

Kaito took his time looking his roommate up and down. "Seems like we're even now, huh?" Gakupo had been so preoccupied with the "blood" that he forgot to bring a towel with him at all, and he was standing naked before Kaito just as the blue-haired man had done on the first day they met.

At a loss for words, a red-faced Gakupo rushed back into the bathroom and locked it once more. Kaito smirked as he stood outside, enjoying in his victory over his stuck-up roommate.

"Nice ass, by the way."

* * *

**A/N**: So, out of nowhere I wanted to write a story for this pairing. I'm feeling pretty self-conscious about this chapter, though, but I guess it's because I haven't written anything - much less fanfiction - for a while. I might even end up editing this in-depth later...

Interestingly enough, despite the silliness here, I have a sort of complicated and angst-ridden plot for later on in the story. Let's hope we get that far!

Tell me what you think, and maybe we can get there together. ; ) Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Why the hell do you think I'd want to go anywhere with you?" Gakupo asked, raising his cup of tea up higher and sipping at the hot liquid slowly. Ever since the day of the shower prank, he had hidden himself away in his room and hardly said even two words to Kaito. This was the first time they were actually having a full-fledged conversation.

Kaito stood at the doorframe, his arms stretched lazily out to either side and blocking the only way out of the room. He leaned inward, noticing that this was the first time he had seen his new roommate's bedroom in its complete state. Gakupo kept things simple, yet quite elegant – he had hung up a couple of paper fans and what looked to be works of his own calligraphy (Kaito read the kanji for 'Kamui' on at least one of them) on the walls. His bed was draped with soft, violet-colored sheets. The floor was spotless, the closet well-organized, and hell, even his regular clothes adorned the laundry basket in the corner of the room in a clean and oddly pleasing manner. Kaito briefly recalled the state of his own bedroom and felt the teeniest bit of embarrassment for its poor condition. Maybe he'd pick his room up a little later, in the spirit of the beginning of a new semester.

He watched his roommate have a little more time with his tea – watched his head tip upwards with the very definition of the word poise – and finally spoke up again, this time with more urgency to his voice.

"It's the first day of class! Look, I know you're mad or whatever, but can't you swallow down your pride long enough to let me show you around campus? I'm not a complete asshole, you know."

Gakupo turned to glare at him momentarily before taking another drink of tea and then placing his cup down onto the floor with care. "You do make a good point," he admitted. "I mean, the showing me around part. You owe me, after all." The man stood up with his now-empty teacup and walked over to Kaito, who was still blocking him in. Kaito smirked to himself, after all his plan for this morning was to force Gakupo to speak to him and it had worked. "Okay, I will allow you to do that for me. Could you move now?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Kaito conceded with a smile, bowing low as he backed away from the door with his arms out in front of him.

Gakupo narrowed his eyes and strode into the kitchen to rinse out his cup. This wasn't a very good start to his day. Especially his first day of university. He hoped the everlasting joys of history class would balance it out.

The man had hardly finished washing the cup when he heard Kaito call for him again, this time from the direction of the front door. "Yo, are all your things ready? We should leave soon! The bus will be here!" he yelled. Gakupo could hear him shifting things around in his own bag for a while before he zipped it up completely. "Don't forget your class schedule either!"

"I don't need to be reminded like a child," Gakupo called back. Still, he hastened to his room and quickly re-emerged with a small, brown satchel that would serve as his schoolbag for the semester. He fitted its strap over his shoulder and then met with his roommate at the front door. "Are you happy now?"

"I'll be happier once we make the bus," Kaito replied, gesturing for Gakupo to come with him. Leading the way out of their apartment in a bit of a rush, he checked behind him every minute or so to make sure he was still following. Fortunately, Gakupo kept up pretty easily, although he had to jog lightly now and then to keep up with the distance that Kaito's long legs could carry him. Kaito also noticed, as he pulled his scarf up over his chin, that the wind continually buffeted Gakupo's long hair up into his face, and the man regularly had to either open his mouth and blow it away from his eyes or reach up and part the lengthy strands from his face. It made Kaito smile slightly, but he was sure to do it whenever he faced forward again just so Gakupo couldn't see. He had no desire for fists coming at the back of his head.

The moment they reached the stop, a large public bus pulled up in front of them. Kaito smiled brightly and pointed out its large, lit-up number and route to his roommate, telling him, "That's the one. We just made it."

Gakupo nodded in acknowledgement and followed him inside. He had only been on a public bus once before – the one he had to take to get to the apartment in the first place – and although he knew he'd have to get used to utilizing it as his primary form of transportation to the university, he figured he still had the right to be a little nervous on one.

There wasn't much seat space left. He went toward the back and reached up to take hold of the overhead rail on the right side of the bus while Kaito grabbed onto the one on the opposite side. An array of different faces, mostly blank and sometimes unfriendly, seemed to surround them from every direction. Gakupo felt oddly alone, even though it was only an aisle that separated the two of them. He sort of wished Kaito could be a bit closer, but he didn't dare voice the thought aloud.

Gakupo's eyes darted everywhere at first, but eventually he turned to see what Kaito was doing. The man's stance was suddenly rigid compared to how relaxed he stood when they first got on, and he was looking directly at somebody a few rows ahead of them. Gakupo followed his gaze and immediately regretted it afterwards. A strange man was watching him in particular, with a leer that could only be measured up to a snake that had finally found its prey. Gakupo glanced away. He focused on looking out the window instead, but he could still feel the guy's eagle eye boring into him. The university student shifted uncomfortably where he stood and gripped the overhead rail even harder.

People filed out as the bus stopped only a few minutes later, but because Kaito didn't budge an inch, Gakupo knew it wasn't where they needed to get off and despite the seats beside him becoming free he decided to remain standing. When he looked up again, Gakupo was thoroughly surprised to see that the strange man had gotten up and was heading right toward him. He froze and stayed right where he was, unable to do much except pretend he hadn't seen him at all.

The guy slowed down as he went past him, and Gakupo felt an abrupt, rough hand brush against his arm and then feel him up all the way to his shoulder, picking up a lock of hair as it went before dropping it and letting it drift back down onto Gakupo's feeble jacket. He shivered. The man took the seat right beside him.

Without warning, Kaito's voice pierced the silence, and he was right behind him. "Move up one, Gakkun? I want this spot." Even if he wasn't currently using the most serious tone of voice Gakupo had ever heard him utter thus far, he still would have complied. He didn't even mind that Kaito was exercising that wretched nickname he had come up with for him recently (and that he hadn't authorized the use of).

Once he replaced Gakupo at that particular rail, Kaito politely expressed his thanks to him and stood firm at that spot for the rest of the bus ride.

They got off several stops later. Kaito signaled to Gakupo which one was the correct stop by lightly placing his palm atop his shoulder and pushing him ahead, allowing to both leave together. At first he had flinched, thinking it was the strange man again, but Gakupo soon understood it was only Kaito when his tranquil voice reached his ear half a second later: "We're here now."

Gakupo moved onward as commanded, only allowing himself to breathe again when his shoe finally touched pavement outside.

After Kaito made sure that the man hadn't followed them out, he spoke once more, this time louder and much more gleeful. "It'd take me weeks to find a new roommate if you got shanked. Luckily, I was here." He snatched Gakupo's hand and began dragging him toward the campus with a newfound spring in his step, his idiotic smile the slightest bit contagious.

"I could have handled that myself!" Gakupo lied, heart still pounding from the encounter. Even his hands were shaking – his small fingers trembled so hard in his roommate's grasp that he was sure Kaito could feel it and knew he was lying, too. He damned himself for not having much experience with handling things like this, or at least not as much as Kaito seemed to. Of course it was lucky that he had been there. But Gakupo never would have admitted it.

Maybe Kaito wasn't the worst roommate in the world.

* * *

"Are you sure you're going to be fine? I still have an hour before class." Kaito handed Gakupo's schedule back to him. They had run through the class list twice, just in case.

"Of course I'm sure. I'm a grown man – why are you treating me like some child?" Gakupo huffed, jamming the sheet of paper back into his satchel and looking up in order to scowl at the taller man. He wondered if he was acting like this because Gakupo was only eighteen, which made him two years his junior.

Kaito grinned toothily. "Just trying to help out the freshman. Well, at least you know where the cafeteria and library are. Since we both have some time to kill, maybe I can show you where my classes are going to be? We can hang out in our free time or something. It kind of sucks that the history and music wings are on the complete opposite sides of the campus though."

The other male fell silent. Kaito's classes? They'd just be full of pianos and sheet music and happy melodies that would resonate and chime through the air long after they were first sung. No, that was the last thing he wanted to see. Gakupo started to turn away, but Kaito stopped him by taking a surprisingly forceful hold of his arm.

"You alright?" he asked.

Gakupo answered him in a cold, indifferent voice. "Look, we're not friends. You're just my roommate. That's it, okay?"

The smile slowly faded from Kaito's eager, lively face. Gakupo immediately felt remorse for what he said as soon as the words parted from his lips, and he had the sudden urge to flee. He tore himself away from Kaito's now-slackened grip and took off into the classroom that held his first lecture of the day, despite there still being at least forty-five minutes before class actually started.

Kaito didn't know why he continued to stand there, dumbfounded, except maybe he had some vague hope that Gakupo would reappear and say something else – maybe even apologize – but he didn't. It was only when a random student almost ran into him and angrily told him to move out of the hallway that he realized it wasn't going to happen, and he left.

* * *

Gakupo reached into his bag and started setting up his notes and pencils. Students trickled in as the clock's large hand moved slowly around its face. Each fellow classmate's features seemed as unsociable and bland as the next one that came in and, no matter what Gakupo tried to do, he couldn't quite quell the feeling of guilt rising up in his stomach. He began reading from the textbook in order to prepare himself for the class, but even that bit of work didn't do much to soothe him at first.

He had made a mistake, but his ego wouldn't allow him to admit it. He read on, unheeded by the clock's hands and new faces until the words on each page finally melted into one another and he stopped seeing Kaito's face in his mind.

* * *

**A/N**: Yay, I'm a little happier about this chapter. ;A; Thanks very much to the people who reviewed and followed and favorited so far! If people are enjoying it, I will be happy to write more! And I hope my writing gets better. I feel a bit rusty.


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